


Yellow Eyed Warning

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 19:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6870256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jess gets a warning about her fate and comes up with a plan to avoid it.  The hardest part is going to be talking Sam and Dean into it, she figures.</p><p>Note: rated for language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yellow Eyed Warning

Jess was sitting on the steps outside when the Impala pulled up. She had to admit, Dean Winchester had a cool car. She was still somewhat freaked out about what she was about to do, but given her options, this was the best one.

“Jess?” Sam got out of the car and came over to her, confusion winning the battle over happiness and disappointment.

“Just a sec,” she said, walking over to the car before Dean could drive away. “Park her and get inside. I need to talk to you.” She went back to Sam, reaching up to kiss him. That was what had first attracted her to Sam – she was a very tall woman, but Sam was taller. “C’mon, let’s get inside. It’s getting chilly out here.”

“What…” Sam looked over at the Impala before following Jess. “Jess, what’s up? Why do you want to talk to Dean?”

“Well, let’s see,” Jess said teasingly. “Could be that he’s my boyfriend’s big brother and the only member of his family I’ve ever met… or I want to yell at him for blowing into town and stealing my boyfriend right after Halloween without even telling me where they’re going…”

Sam laughed and shook his head. “He did bring me back as promised, you know. I have time to get some sleep and get cleaned up properly for my interview.”

“Um, yeah…” Jess found a seat on the couch and Sam slid down beside her. “This is going to be hard to get through once, so how about we just wait for Dean to get here before I start talking?” She caught the look of fear in Sam’s eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not breaking up with you or anything like that.” She kissed him again. “You’d crash and burn without me, remember?”

Dean came in then, and Jess waved him into a chair she’d pulled to the coffee table opposite the couch earlier that day. She stood up and walked to the refrigerator, returning quickly with three beers. “Sorry it’s cheap beer, but we are college kids,” Jess said as she handed one to Dean. She gave another to Sam and opened the third for herself.

Dean shrugged and popped his open with his ring. “Cheap beer’s usually all I can afford either, don’t worry about it.” He took a long swig. “What’s on your mind?”

“Not dying the same way your mom did,” Jess said bluntly. She’d been thinking for hours and hadn’t come up with a way to ease into the topic.

Dean set down his beer and leaned forward. “Um, what? Mom’s death… well, that’s not likely to happen to anyone else, okay?” He looked at Sam, and even Jess could read the panicked look in his eyes.

“What do you mean, Jess?” Sam asked, taking her hand. “Because Dean’s right… our mom’s death was really weird.”

“Yeah,” Jess agreed, leaning into Sam for strength. “There’s probably not a lot of people who have been pinned to the ceiling, bleeding from a cut to the belly just long enough for the man who loved them to be watching as they burst into flames that set the whole house on fire.”

Dean looked at Sam. “You told her that?” Sam shook his head vigorously.

“All Sam told me was the part about the house fire, and your mom being trapped inside while your dad got you two out.” Jess swallowed hard. “I learned the rest of it this afternoon, when I had this… vision, or something.”

“Vision,” Sam repeated. “You had a vision of Mom dying?”

“No,” Jess said. “I had a vision of me dying. The same way, tonight, caused by the same demon.”

Dean caught her eyes as Sam wrapped her up tightly in a hug. “This demon… can you tell us anything about him?”

Jess shook her head. “I don’t know how I even knew what it was, or that it killed your mom. Same night, twenty-two years ago.” She took a breath, forcing herself to calm down before continuing. “Naturally, I freaked. I told myself that there’s no such thing as demons, and if there are, well, they have no reason to kill me.”

Dean snorted. “Demons don’t need a reason. They just kill for the fun of it. Evil, you know?”

“Dean,” Sam said warningly. “Shut up.”

“No, he’s right,” Jess said. “And I learned the truth as soon as I got home. I was just about to call you, Sam, beg you to come back. That’s when he showed up.”

“The demon was here,” Dean said. “That bastard that killed our mother was here in this house?”

“He said he was here to tell me a story, and to give me a message.” She sniffled and looked up at Sam, who wiped a tear from her cheek. “He told me how he killed your mom, when you were six months old. He told me how your dad reacted, packing you two up and turning himself into a hunter. Raising you two the same way.” She looked up at Sam again. “I’m not talking about deer. Demons. Ghosts. Werewolves. Skinchangers. They’re all real, and the three of you not only know about this but actively hunt them and things like them down and… ‘gank’ them?”

Dean cleared his throat. “Two of us. Sammy gave it up to come to Stanford. He didn’t tell you because he doesn’t wanna go back.” There was pain in the voice.

“So he didn’t run off with you this weekend and put a Woman in White to rest? While looking for your dad, but there was a hunt.” Jess looked between them, amused despite herself at their near-identical ‘busted’ faces.

“I came back,” Sam pointed out. “I’ll help out occasionally, I guess… if it’s Dean. Dad and I don’t work very well together. But that’s not my life anymore.”

Jess shook her head and curled in close. “There was also a message,” she reminded Sam. “The demon was extremely clear on this. You get back to the hunt, with or without Dean or your dad, or I die. The way I saw.”

Dean shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. The whole reason our family got into hunting is to kill that demon asshole. The other hunts are just… practice. Ways to kill time while we wait for leads – which, by the way, you just gave me the biggest one I’ve ever had. I didn’t know it was a demon.” Sam apparently hadn’t either. “Why would this demon want Sam back in that life? If he wants Sam dead, there have to be more reliable ways to do it.”

“I don’t know,” Jess said. “He didn’t say why, just the ultimatum. So… your choice, Sam. Do you want out badly enough to let me die?” She didn’t really mean it as a guilt trip, but there wasn’t any better way she could think of to phrase it.

“No. Never.” Sam’s arms tightened around her. “I love you, Jess.” He looked over to his brother. “Black Water Ridge? If I have to hunt again, I’d rather go with you than try to set up on my own.”

Dean coughed. “Sammy… I’m sorry things worked out this way. And now we have a bit of a problem.”

“You and me have a problem, or there’s a problem we have to deal with?” Sam asked. Jess hoped Dean understood, because she sure didn’t.

“Kind of both?” Dean said. “You have to hunt. I want to hunt. But we can’t both hunt and keep an eye on your girlfriend in case the demon decides to kill her anyway.”

“Shit,” Sam said, looking down at Jess. “What do we do?”

Jess had been thinking about that since the demon left. “I want to come with you. Not necessarily when you’re out actually looking for the monster, but I’m guessing you have to find where the monsters are, figure out what you’re dealing with and how to kill   
it, that sort of thing? I’m a quick study, I can help with that.” She looked between the brothers, who both looked like they were about to say no. “I have a black belt, you know, Sam. And it’s not like I’ve never shot a gun before; my dad bought me self-defense lessons and gun training when I was thirteen. Knives and stuff you’ll have to teach me, but I’m not helpless.” Sam was wavering, but Dean was still looking obstinate. “Your dad took you with him when you were children and he had to protect you without knowing what he was doing. I can pull my own weight.”

“Jess…” Sam said. “It’s not all research and ganking. It’s crappy diner food, sleeping in seedy motels, running scams and gambling so that you can get enough money to get by. It’s living in the same few shirts for weeks, because you have to travel light and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. The life sucks.”

Dean nodded. “The lives we live, it’s not just monsters we’re running from. We lie our asses off. I have a box full of IDs making me FBI, CIA, a federal marshal, hell I even have one for federal wildlife management. Because impersonating law enforcement gets us into crime scenes that we think are our kind of gig. It gets us into coroner’s offices, files we shouldn’t have access to. Other times, we cut the bullshit and just break in. Homes, businesses, wherever we need to go to investigate. We steal. Sam mentioned the scams, but there’s also taking cursed objects or leads or even just swiping stuff because we need the money. There aren’t just a whole lot of laws or typical morals that hunters leave unbroken, Jess. Hell, I do sex work sometimes for a fun and easy quick buck.”

Jess had been looking more and more scared until then, but she felt her shock at the last bit replace the fear on her face. Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “You do? Since when?”

Dean laughed. “Since I was, oh… fifteen? Not so much the last few years, haven't needed the money as badly and I'm getting a bit old.” He winked at Jess. “Don’t worry; unless Sam’s changed a whole lot since he went to college, your boyfriend never followed me down that particular path.” Sam choked, but Jess actually smiled a bit. “That part’s not part of the life. But if you’re serious about joining us, then you need to commit to it and join us.”

Jess nodded. “I can learn to deal.”

“There’s also the crappy health plan,” Sam said. “Hospitals are an extremely rare thing for us, because of the money, and because it’s hard to explain away a vampire bite or the bruises around your neck from a near-strangulation. Unless it’s really serious, hunters patch themselves up. I can’t count the number of stitches I put in my dad and brother before I was even in middle school. You never make it out of a hunt without bruises, cuts, something. How old was I the first time you pulled a bullet out of me, Dean?”

“Twelve.” Dean’s answer was quick, no hesitation. “Dad fucked up and led that psychopath right to us. You tried to run, but the bastard shot you in the shoulder before I got my knife in his back.”

Jess nodded. She then pointed out the one thing they couldn’t counter. “And of all that, where do things get worse than dying on the ceiling on fire?”

Sam sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Dean stared at his now-empty beer. “The only part that’s worse is that death is over with quickly. Hunting only ends bloody or sad,” Dean finally admitted. “This next part’s not scary, just kind of… awkward. Money issues, not to mention defense, mean one hotel room most nights, or sleeping in the Impala.”

Jess burst out laughing at that one and went to get Dean another beer. “Don’t like the idea of me and your brother having sex in the same room as you?”

Sam stared between them. “You have to admit, Jess. It is kind of awkward. Although he may have been referring to having a girl around while he’s watching porn.”

“What, that’s less awkward than having his _brother_ there?” Jess asked teasingly.

“We… kind of got over that awkwardness years ago,” Sam admitted. “Along with various other awkwardnesses.”

“Like what?”

Dean shook his head, but motioned for Sam to continue. Sam took a deep breath. “When we traveled with Dad, it was one hotel room. When we were little, the obvious thing was for me and Dean to share one bed, and Dad get the other one. It helped me a lot, too; I slept better with Dean beside me, because if I woke up after a nightmare, he’d calm me down and get me back to sleep quickly. You know how the nightmares get, well, they were worse when I was a kid. As we got older… well, two hormonal boys sharing a bed, I’m sure you can imagine what happened.”

Jess was squicked for a moment, but then shrugged. “The way you were raised, I guess that makes sense. Especially with the high-stress lifestyle of frequent injuries and running from the law and all. Although with your dad in the room, talk about awkward.” She chuckled, but then a thought hit her. “You two didn’t… this weekend…”

“No!” Sam said quickly. “Jess, I would never be unfaithful.”

“He really wouldn’t,” Dean agreed. “And I wouldn’t let him. Especially when we’re dealing with a Woman in White.”

“What is that, anyway?” Jess asked.

Sam smiled quickly. “It’s a type of spirit. A woman with a specific story in life – her husband was unfaithful, driving her to kill her children in a fit of temporary insanity and then herself when she realized what she’d done. She haunts an area, hitchhiking, looking for unfaithful men. When she finds one, they disappear forever.”

“Wait a minute,” Dean said. “Then how…”

Sam cut him off with a short huff. “She said I would be, and apparently believing that was enough for her. Or her attempts at seducing me counted even though I was trying to get her off me.” Sam shrugged. “I don’t know, man. Hardly seems fair either way.”

“So… you will be unfaithful to me?” Jess said, a sly smile creeping onto her face.

“Not on purpose!” Sam protested. “Jess, you have to believe me.”

“What if I said it was okay?” Jess asked. “Since apparently Women in White can already hurt you, no point in saving it.” Sam was staring at her blankly. “If I’m going with you and Dean and we’re all sharing a room, it just seems… rude. Us sleeping together if he can’t.”

Dean spat out his beer. “I’m sorry. Did you just sign off on your boyfriend sleeping with his brother? Because that’s what it sounded like to me.” He grabbed a cloth nearby, trying to wipe up the beer.

“Why did you not come to Stanford with your brother? Seems like you’re plenty smart enough.” Jess took another pull of her beer. “What? You just got done trying to scare me off with the flexible morality I have to adopt if I want to hunt. THIS is the line you’re surprised I’m willing to cross?”

Sam finally roused from the stunned state he’d been in. “You’re serious.” Jess nodded. “Dean?”

Dean shrugged. “She does have a point,” he admitted. “All right, Jess. One last objection to you coming: what about your family? They’d freak if they knew what you were doing.”

“Yeah,” Jess said. “And for them, it really would be better if I died.” She had figured this objection out too, while she thought things through this afternoon. “For now, I’ll tell my family that I’m on the road with my boyfriend and his brother, trying to help them find their dad. And then we were having so much fun, we just decided to keep going. See America. We’re not all that close, I usually only see them at Christmas anyway. They won’t ask too many questions. They start pushing, we figure out a way to fake my death.”

Sam and Dean looked at each other for a long time, apparently having a silent conversation. Sam turned to her. “Okay. Here are the rules. We change cell phones frequently. Soon as you get a new number, you make sure that at least one of us has it. Until you’re up to speed on weapons, you stay in the Impala or at the hotel while we fight. Speaking of the Impala, that is Dean’s baby, and you do not show her any disrespect of any kind. Once you’re fighting with us, we don’t have time to argue about things. Dean’s in charge; you and me follow orders. Even if they make no sense at the time, you can ask after. Driver picks the music; shotgun and backseat shut their pie holes.” He looked to Dean. “I forget anything?”

“Most important one, Sammy!” Dean said, sounding injured. “When it’s your turn for supply runs… never forget the pie.”

Jess giggled. “Okay, so: packing. Comfortable, easy to move in, sturdy, low-maintenance on the clothes?”

“Yeah.” Sam got up and headed for the bedroom. “Pack light, but layers. The less you have to worry about what the weather’s gonna be like, the better. You’ll also need this.” He pulled her interview suit out of the closet. “Easier to pull off federal whatevers in a suit.”

“Where’d Dean go?” Jess asked, looking back at the couch. “Given the first impression, I’d have thought your brother would love any excuse to go through my clothes.”

“Look,” Sam said, running a hand through his hair again as he looked through the shirts. “Dean talks a good game and is the biggest flirt I’ve ever known, but he really is a good guy. Shut him down, he’ll leave you alone until you say bring it on.”

Jess paused as she pulled some underwear out, looking thoughtfully at Sam. “Can I?” she asked.

Sam wrinkled his brow. “Can you what?” He tossed a black tank top onto the bed, followed by Jess’s favorite blue button-down shirt.

“Can I say bring it on?” Jess gathered what she’d picked up, carrying it to set with the shirts. “I’m not saying I want to, necessarily; I barely know him. But…”

Sam came over to her, gripping her waist and looking at her. “Hey. I thought that was implied when you gave your blessing to me. It’s only fair.”

There was a cough at the door. “What’s only fair?” Dean asked, going to the bed and setting down the empty duffle bag he’d retrieved from the Impala.

“Sam was telling me what an awesome guy you were,” Jess said with a smile as she slipped out of Sam’s hold to retrieve some jeans. “How despite the horndog routine, you’re actually respectful of women and their right to choose what they want to do.”

“Well, yeah,” Dean said. “I don’t want to be with a woman who doesn’t want to be with me. I’d feel like one of the monsters we hunt.”

“Mmmm,” Jess said, keeping one eye on Sam as she found her hiking boots and her sturdiest sneakers. “Hot.” As expected, Sam looked a bit discomfited, but not angry or jealous.

Dean looked at Sam. “Dude, your girlfriend is flirting with me. Make her stop.”

Sam just shrugged as he brought a few more shirts over to the duffle bag. “Do it yourself, if you’re so bothered by a hot girl flirting with you. Hey, Jess… remember to get shoes to go with the suit.”

“Oh, thanks,” Jess said, pulling out her interview shoes. After a moment’s thought, she grabbed a pair of red high heels too, and snagged a knee-length red skirt from the hanger. She grinned at the look on the boys’ faces. “Don’t tell me you don’t think it could be useful for me to get dolled up and flirt information out of guys. If we’re fighting, I’ve got bigger things to worry about than flashing underwear if I’m wearing the skirt, and it is really easy to care for.” She looked through the shirts Sam had picked, checking for any major holes in the wardrobe. “Think I’m good here.”

“Have to say, she’s got good instinct for this,” Dean said. “Except for the flirting with me.”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually bothered by that,” Sam said with a grin. “You’re the one who practically hit on her the second I introduced her as my girlfriend.”

Jess started digging through her jewelry box. “Sam, can you get my toothbrush and stuff?” Sam went into the bathroom, and Jess turned to look at Dean. “Clothes and hygiene. I don’t own any weapons, not yet anyway. What else do I need?”

“Uh… that’s about all I have, aside from some sentimental stuff like this amulet,” Dean said, reaching up to touch the gold charm around his neck as he thought. “Pictures of your family or whatever. Just be careful not to make your bag heavier than you can carry. You’ve still got some room if you want more clothes.”

Jess blinked. “I almost forgot!” She retrieved the Smurfs shirt Dean had first seen her in. “Gotta have the Smurfs.”

“Jess…”

Jess smiled. “Sam said it was okay. I’m trusting you not to push it any further than I’m willing to go at any given time. Or at least, I’m trusting that Sam and I can take you down if you do.”

“Touch her without her permission, and I will fucking end you,” Sam said as he came back in with the hygiene kit. “Her permission’s all you need.”

“Huh.” Dean looked a little surprised. “Wasn’t expecting that from you, Sammy.”

“Hey, I have a protective streak,” Sam said, turning it into a joke. “I learned it from my big brother, who always kept me safe.”

Dean cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed. “Can you think of anything else Jess will need, Sam? We’ll have to get her set up with IDs and a couple cell phones, a credit card or two, but anything else she needs from here?”

Sam closed his eyes, running through everything he and Jess owned or otherwise possessed. “Bring your laptop. Other than that… not unless you’ve got some weapons you’ve been holding out from me. Mine are already packed.” He opened his eyes and looked at Jess. “You’re sure this is what you want?”

Jess reached out, softly stroking Sam’s face. “I’m sure this is my best option,” she clarified. “Yours, too, although I don’t know about Dean. I bet he enjoyed not having to watch out for a rookie anymore.”

“No way,” Dean said. “Worst night of my life is the night Sammy walked out for Stanford. I will gladly train a rookie if it means having him back and happy.”

Jess laughed softly. “Okay, then. Um… can I suggest a rule of my own, though?”

“Suggest, yes,” Dean said. “No guarantees we’ll agree to it.”

“Fair enough.” Jess looked between the boys. “I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of life-risking and life-saving from here on out. I can’t take living in a cross between a horror movie and a chick flick, and I always liked the horror movies better.”

Sam burst out laughing. A full, hearty laugh, one that Jess had not expected to hear so soon. She looked quizzically at Dean, who was also laughing. Dean got it under control first. “You know, I just realized I never got your last name. And I don’t care what it was before, you’re a Winchester.” Sam started laughing even harder. “That’s the Winchester way. Keep the emotions in check until you’re either too drunk or too pissed to care anymore.”

“It’s not the healthiest lifestyle choice, but that’s how it is,” Sam agreed.

Jess was laughing now too, and she shouldered her bags. “Okay, then. Sam, I’m sure you were looking forward to sleeping in our bed tonight, but I’m scared to stay here. I just… I don’t want that demon misreading anything.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, suddenly sober. “Okay. So, Dean was heading to Black Water Ridge – we got a set of coordinates from Dad. I figure that’s still our first stop.”

Dean shook his head. “Second, better yet third. First, we go to Modesto, San Jose maybe, get Jess set up. Then, we find somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and I get to see Jess’s shooting and black belt for myself so I can start figuring out what she needs to learn or unlearn. THEN we go find Dad.” He looked at Sam. “And don’t even try to tell me that you care more about finding Dad than you do about making sure Jess is taken care of. If I don’t, there’s no fucking way you’ll make me believe you do.”

 

Dean drove, Sam rode shotgun, and Jess curled up in the back of the Impala. She was impressed with how comfortable it felt, despite the age and miles the Impala had on it. “How long have you had her?” she asked Dean.

“Me? Since I was eighteen,” Dean said, firing her up. “It was Dad’s before then, and he had it since before he married Mom. ’73, maybe?”

Sam handed her a brown leather-covered book. “This is Dad’s hunting journal. Everything he ever learned about any evil son of a bitch is in here. Consider this your newest textbook.” He looked at it awkwardly. “There’s also stuff about me and Dean in here, times we fucked up royally or came through in a big way.”

Jess took the book, opening it carefully. There was a lot to read in here, but it was dark, and she had questions. “I’ll start reading as soon as we have enough light,” she promised. “In the meantime… a lot of what I know about you, Dean, and your dad… it’s only part of the truth.” She caught a guilty look on Sam’s face. “I get it. You were trying to protect me from this, and I appreciate that. But I think I have the right to know everything, now.”

“Well, you’ve already learned what a handsome devil I am,” Dean said with a saucy glance in the rearview for her. “The first thing you need to understand is that Dad was seriously fucked up the night Mom died. His whole life changed. I’m guessing Sam told you he was a mechanic?” Jess nodded. “That was true. He still is one of the best mechanics I know. But he sold out his half of the garage, dropped everything to become a hunter.”

“Dean was five years old; I was a baby,” Sam jumped in. “Dean has a few memories of the happy, apple-pie life we had. I don’t. All I ever knew was moving around, never staying anywhere long enough to fit in, always being the freak in the secondhand clothes that didn’t fit right and the constant bruises that always worried my teachers. The older I got, the more I hated it, and the more vocal I got about telling Dad so.”

Dean took back over then. “Dad was a Marine, and he expected military discipline. I was good about falling in line, so a lot of times I had it easy compared to Sam. I loved the lifestyle, but at the same time, I did everything I could to let Sammy be normal.” He looked over at Sam with a grin. “Sam was terrible at falling in line and doing what he was told. He questioned everything, and him and Dad were at each other’s throats nearly constantly.”

“The other thing is that Dad had a drinking problem,” Sam interrupted. “Everything I told you about that is completely true. Combine that with the stubborn and the temper, and you have a recipe for abuse. Mix in the military lives, the use of violence to solve problems, and I’m sure you can guess that Dad would take swings at us when he thought we deserved it. We took it in stride, or I should say, Dean took it in stride.”

Dean’s face was clouding with anger. “I took it in stride when the blows were aimed at me, Sam. The few times he laid a finger on you…” He looked back at Jess in the mirror again. “Dad was doing the best he could in a crap situation. He may have crossed some lines, but so did we. I don’t want you thinking Dad is some villain here, that we’re looking for him out of Stockholm Syndrome or some shit. He taught us to survive. Sam and I both owe him our lives a million times over.”

Sam laughed mirthlessly. “And this is what you need to know about Dean. Dean’s priorities, in order, are me, Dad’s good opinion, his baby, whatever it is he’s hunting, sex, pie, other food, everything else in the goddamn world, and then and only then his own well-being. I’m not quite sure whether the mullet rock goes before or after sex.”

“Bite your tongue,” Dean said. “Zeppelin goes before, everyone else goes after.”

Jess couldn’t help it. She burst into peals of laughter, not even trying to smother them. Sam had turned around and was looking at her warily; Dean, thankfully, was keeping his eyes half on the road, though he was shooting glances in the mirror far more often than necessary. “I’m sorry, boys. It’s just… are you two sure that Friday night was the first time you’d spoken in over two years? Because you sound exactly like Zach and Becky when you get them started.” She met Dean’s eyes in the mirror briefly. “Zach and Becky are a brother and sister that went to school with us. One year apart and practically joined at the hip. Zach even deferred college for a year so that he and Becks would start the same time.” She shifted her gaze to Sam. “You weren’t kidding when you said you knew siblings who were even closer, were you.”

Sam shifted a little uncomfortably. “Talk to me after Becky tells Zach that he’s a brainless extension of his father and that she’s ashamed to be related to him, and then Zach not only forgives her but lets her back into his life like she’d never walked out of it.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah, maybe they can claim our title after Zach tells Becky that she’s a freak for wanting something normal for herself and that she’s a traitor to her family, and then she runs off and abandons her normality and her smoking hot and amazing girlfriend with barely a word, to help Zach find a man she hates.”

“I don’t hate Dad,” Sam protested. “I resent the crap out of him for the way he raised us, and I’m still furious from that fight right before I left. But I don’t hate him.”

Jess was still laughing. “I take it I just heard the gist of the infamous Sophomore Year Blowout? Dean, you should have seen Sam afterwards. This was before I was with him, of course, so I couldn’t do much to make him get his head on straight. He ended up failing every class that quarter, which is why he’s a little late graduating. Zach and Brady and Kevin and me put together his appeal so that he could keep his scholarship. That’s when I first got to know him as anything more than the incredibly tall guy with the beautiful hazel eyes and inability to string two words together.” She raised an eyebrow as Sam started to protest. “You never did in my presence before I asked you out!”

“Wow,” Dean said softly. “I nearly got myself killed so often that Dad almost insisted on riding with me again, but I never knew it affected Sammy that badly.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I had any idea you gave a damn either. You’re the one who changed your cell phones before I had the chance to call and apologize.”

 

They found a motel just outside of Modesto. Dean paid for a room for two nights. Once inside, Dean went to toss his duffel on the near bed. “Christ, three showers to schedule,” he joked.

Jess dropped her bag on the far bed, picking a side to settle on with her laptop. “Rookies go last,” she said as the computer booted up. “My dad and his brothers are cops or retired, that’s the way it always works.”

Dean chuckled. “I’ll take your word for that, but I believe there’s a rule of ladies first.” He grabbed the TV remote, flipping through the channels.

Jess set her laptop aside. “Okay. Let’s get one thing straight. Holding doors for me or whatever, I can deal. Particularly when we’re undercover. But I’m not some precious doll who needs concessions because of my boobs.” She paused. “Actually, hunting vampires or something during a period might be a bad idea, but that’s neither here nor there.” Dean looked a little grossed out, and even Sam had a look of TMI. Well, they'd just have to get over that, because it's not like her period would just stop because it was inconvenient. Unfortunately. “Treat me different because I’m a rookie, fine. That’s deserved. But if you treat me differently because I’m female, I will punch you.” She paused again. “Unless it’s an actually reasonable thing like using me as bait because whatever we’re hunting targets women or whatever.”

Sam made a strangled noise at the idea of using Jess as bait. “Okay. I am going to shower first, since Dean’s too busy being macho and Jess is too busy being rookie-accommodating. You two arm-wrestle or whatever you need to do to figure out who gets second shower.” He dropped his bag into a chair and retrieved clean boxers and a T-shirt. “While you’re at it, figure out where I’m sleeping.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “He usually take charge like that with you, Jess?”

“Nope. Love it when he does, though.” Jess stared at the bathroom door. It wasn’t long, though, before she was frantically googling something. “Hey, Dean… the way you and Sam talked, I’m guessing there are other hunters?” She did her best to keep her voice casual.

“Yeah, no idea how many, though,” Dean said with a shrug. “Dad knew a lot more than me and Sammy do, but he also has a singular talent for alienating his friends. Why do you ask?”

“Are any of the ones you know women?” Google wasn’t being particularly helpful, although Jess had to admit she didn’t know at all what she was searching for, or how to recognize good information from new age bullshit.

“Uh…” Dean thought hard. “You. I know there are women hunters, but like I said, my network’s pretty limited. You might check Dad’s journal, I know he keeps phone numbers in there, but like I said there are a lot of those numbers that won’t work or the person on the other end won’t speak to a Winchester.”

Jess shook her head. “Crap. I have a problem I don’t think men would ever think about.” She leaned back. “You get Sam tonight, by the way.”

“Okay, random non seq…” Dean cut himself off as he figured out where Jess was going. “Oh, believe me we think about it. Or at least, I do. You think I haven’t wondered if I have other half-siblings out there because Dad was too drunk to use a condom right? Or, worse, if I have a kid out there who doesn’t know his dad, because something slipped or went wrong?” He scrubbed his face. “But that is a lot more important to you. You wouldn’t exactly get to walk away and never know.” He thought for a minute before picking up his cell phone. 

“Hey, Bobby. I need help. At least tell me who to call for this. Bobby, you don’t need to… Bobby! Shut up and listen a sec. Sam’s with me, we’re talking again, we’re good… Bobby, don’t you dare give me crap about dragging him back into the life until you’ve heard why. Because there were two damn good reasons, that’s why! Dad’s missing. Yes, I’m sure. Bobby, I have his journal, you tell me there’s not a problem. Besides, he’s Sam’s dad too, and family’s important. Other reason is that a demon threatened Sam’s girl that if he didn’t get back hunting, she’d die the same way Mom did. What was I supposed to do, Bobby? Let the girl die? Let Sammy go off alone? Damn straight we brought her with us. You wanna talk to her?” Dean held out the phone to Jess.

“Um, hi?” Jess said, not quite sure what was going on.

She wasn’t exactly surprised that the voice on the other end was deep and sounded like it was soaked in whiskey. “Listen, girl. Are you sure it was a demon and not some jackass in a Halloween costume?”

Jess bristled. “Unless you know how a jackass in a Halloween costume can change his eyes from a normal brown color to a bright, swirling yellow, set me on fire with his mind, and douse it before it can do any real damage, yes, I’m sure it was a demon.” Sam had come out by then, and the look on his face reminded Jess that she hadn’t mentioned that particular detail to them.

“I ain’t never heard of a demon with yellow eyes,” Bobby said. “But the fire thing… that’s a demon, all right. Pretty powerful one at that. Any idea what he was really after? Because I ain’t buying that he wanted Sam back in the game. Sam’s too good and now he’s gonna be pissed at this thing in particular.”

“Excuse me a sec, um… sir?” Jess put her hand over the phone. “Sam, it’s hard to talk to this Bobby guy when you’re trying to smother me. Dean, distract your brother, would you?” She uncovered the phone as Dean pulled Sam away and started whispering to him. “Sorry about that, Sam’s a little… overprotective right now.”

“First things first: name’s Bobby, or jackass. Not sir. And if you think Sam’s overprotective, be glad it ain’t Dean who’s in love with you. All the Winchesters are idjits that way, but Dean’s the worst. Now please tell me those boys ain’t thinking of ruining your life by dragging you into the hunt.”

“No, that yellow-eyed bastard ruined my life by dragging me into the hunt,” Jess said. “The boys are just going to teach me how to stay alive while I do it and give me two good reasons to stay that way. But I’ve already managed to come up with a question Dean couldn’t answer, which is why he called you, because neither of think there’s a chance in hell Sam would have any idea.”

Bobby’s initial response was a string of extremely loud curses, mingled with the words demon and Winchesters. It went on for nearly a solid minute, Sam and Dean trying not to laugh as she held the phone away from her ear. “All right, what’s the question? And tell Dean that my number better be programmed into your phone the second you get it, those two chuckleheads don’t know how to train a hunter and their daddy set them a piss-poor example.”

Jess did laugh at that one. “Well, Sam and I have been together for two years. We’re not exactly planning on…”

“Stop right there,” Bobby said. “Those boys are like sons to me and I know too damn much about that part of their lives already. Tell them to forget whatever plans they have and get their asses out here, use normal precautions until then. I’ve got a friend who has a charm that works. Long as it’s in the room with you, no babies.”

“Thanks, Bobby. Just don’t forget I’m up against Winchester stubbornness. They’ve got a lead on their dad in Colorado…” 

Bobby let out a few more choice words to describe the Winchesters. “Just get here soon as you can. Anything else you need right this second?”

“Nope. Sorry about the ungodly hour. And thanks again.” Jess hung up and handed the phone back to Dean. “Bobby’s got a solution, but we need to go pick it up. Where does he live?”

“Two good reasons, huh?” Sam said with a smirk.

“Oh my god, Sam. Me dying would break you, and breaking you would break Dean. You can’t wait even a day here?” Jess threw a pillow at Sam. “By the way, Dean, shower’s free.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are tasty and calorie-free! There's no such thing as too many of them.


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